Winter Tires and Wheels

HankL

I just installed my winter tires and thought I would post my notes. The Z is an ’11 GM coupe, 6MT, Touring, Sport. I chose Blizzak LM-60 255/50R18s (correction 225/50R18) all around with the 18x8 F10 Sport edition wheel from TireRack. The guys at TireRack assured me that this wheel would fit over the sport brakes and they did. I can post pictures but the wheel is shown with this tire on TireRack. As I live in PA and the packages shipped out of Delaware I had them next day, well 3 of them, number 4 arrived the following day.

Installation :
There are two things to report regarding installation. (1) there are pins in the front rotors to prevent putting the rear wheels on the front. I don’t know if the new wheels would have cleared, I just pulled the pin which is actually a spacer on a machine screw. (2) The factory lug wrench does not fit in the lug wells of the new wheels. I'll need to carry an appropriate lug wrench for these wheels.

Appearance :
I was a bit concerned how the 50 profile tires would look as the “Wheels on Vehicle” view on TireRack is not impressive. The car, however, looks better than I expected. The rear wells are bit empty looking.

Driving :
The initial drive was in the dry. Amazing how much quieter these tires are compared to the summer Bridgestones which seemed to get even louder as the temperatures dropped.
The TCS seems very invasive. I haven’t come to a conclusion as to whether this is really the TCS reacting to the 18" vs. 19" or that there is really that much less grip. I’ll report more later as I gain more experience on these tires. Day 5 was in the wet, no TCS, no drama, just take it easy pulling away.

TPMS :
I did not pay the $470 for TPMS. The TPMS light didn't come on until the 3rd day (maybe 2 hours of driving). Now it flashes for about one minute then goes solid. I don't really notice it but may cover it with black tape anyway.

That's all for now. Hope some finds this useful.